Firm Honored for Use of Building Information Modeling Process on Large-Scale, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Projects at Fort Knox and Fort Lee

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., April 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:
ADSK), a leader in 2D and 3D design and engineering software, has announced that
HNTB Federal, a business unit of HNTB Corporation, has been selected to receive an
Autodesk BIM Experience Award. The employee-owned engineering, architectural, planning and construction management firm is being recognized for its use of Autodesk
building information modeling (BIM) software for the design and documentation of large-scale government projects, such as the 883,000-square-foot Fort Knox and 773,000-square-foot Fort Lee projects for the U.S. Army. This award is the first in the new Autodesk BIM Experience Award program, formerly called the "Revit BIM Experience Award," which has been expanded beyond the Autodesk Revit platform.

"Autodesk BIM software has been at the center of our close collaboration with builders for many of our large-scale government design-build projects," said Bradley Schulz, AIA, architecture market vice president at HNTB Federal. "A BIM process leveraging the Revit platform, Navisworks and 3ds Max Design software allows us and our construction partners to collaborate early in the process, share schedule and cost information, and make more informed design decisions. For the Fort Lee project, the BIM process and Revit models helped make it possible for us to move from project-award to start-of-construction phase in just six months."

"Presenting HNTB Federal with the first BIM Experience award of 2009 demonstrates the growing adoption of Autodesk BIM software solutions within the community of engineering, architectural, planning and construction management firms that serve government clients," said Bill Goodson, vice president of government sales for Autodesk. "HNTB Federal's Fort Knox project was 100 percent based on the Revit platform, making it one of the largest Revit platform projects in the world. By employing a shared BIM design platform, HNTB Federal was also able to realize efficiency gains throughout the design cycle, helping them to develop a design for the Fort Knox project in just 60 days."

BIM Process Applied to FortKnox and Fort Lee Projects

The U.S. Army Human Resources Center of Excellence at Fort Knox, Kentucky is an 883,000-square-foot, $183-million design-build project. For this project, which consists of six buildings that will house more than 4,300 people,
Turner Universal contracted HNTB as a partner for its engineering, architectural, planning and construction management expertise. Using Autodesk Revit Architecture and Autodesk Revit Structure software, the HNTB Federal staff collaborated with the project's mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) engineers working with Autodesk Revit MEP software. Through the use of Autodesk Navisworks software, HNTB engineers routinely combined the various Revit models for early-phase clash detection and to support multidisciplinary coordination, which helped reduce the need for costly, time-delaying on-site change orders. The Revit models were also used with sustainable design analysis tools to help the project achieve an Army classification equivalent to a Silver USGBC LEED certification.

For the U.S. Army's new 773,000-square-foot phase I Wheeled and Tracked Vehicle Maintenance Training School at Fort Lee, Virginia, HNTB Federal used Autodesk building information modeling software to collaborate with
Balfour Beatty Construction and
Hankins and Anderson Engineers on this $197-million design-build project. HNTB Federal's role on the project (currently in construction) includes planning, architectural design, interior design and project management services. HNTB Federal used Autodesk Revit Architecture to devise a plan that expanded instructional space while decreasing the number of floors originally anticipated. The Autodesk Revit Architecture models, in combination with Autodesk 3ds Max Design, were used with an Xbox game controller to stage virtual 3D walkthrough reviews. The project team used Autodesk Navisworks to help detect clashes early and accelerated the schedule by visualizing the construction project and sequencing it over time to foster multidisciplinary team coordination. As with the Fort Knox project, the Revit models for the Fort Lee project were also used to help achieve an Army classification equivalent to a Silver USGBC LEED certification.

The
Autodesk BIM Experience Award celebrates professionals and educators around the world who are helping to drive industry transformation through building information modeling. Autodesk honors organizations for their innovation, leadership and excellence in implementing BIM with the help of core BIM products, including one or more of the Autodesk Revit platform products and other Autodesk products that complement the BIM process.

BIM is an integrated process that allows architects, engineers and builders to explore a project digitally before it's built. Coordinated, reliable information is used throughout the process to design innovative projects, accurately visualize appearance for better communication, and simulate real-world performance for better understanding of important characteristics such as cost, scheduling and environmental impact.

About HNTB Corporation

HNTB Corporation is an employee-owned infrastructure firm serving federal, state, municipal, military and private clients. With nearly a century of service, HNTB has the insight to understand the lifecycle of infrastructure and the perspective to solve the most complex technical, financial and operational challenges. Professionals nationwide provide award-winning planning, design, program management and construction management services. For more information on HNTB Federal, visit
www.hntb.com/federal.

About Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc., is a world leader in 2D and
3D design and engineering software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk has developed the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art Digital Prototyping solutions to help customers experience their ideas before they are real. Fortune 1000 companies rely on Autodesk for the tools to visualize, simulate and analyze real-world performance early in the design process to save time and money, enhance quality and foster innovation. For additional information about Autodesk, visit
www.autodesk.com.

Autodesk, AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Navisworks, Revit and 3ds Max are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.